Investing.com-- Bitcoin’s price rose on Wednesday, steadying near a 2-½ month high on hopes that the 2024 U.S. elections will yield friendlier regulations, while improving capital inflows also boosted prices.
The world’s biggest cryptocurrency appeared to have broken out of a $50,000 to $65,000 trading range seen through most of the year, and was now about $7000 away from making new record highs.
Sentiment was also boosted earlier this week by defunct exchange Mt Gox extending its timeline for returning stolen tokens to creditors.
Bitcoin rose 2.3% to $67,099.1 by 01:22 ET (05:22 GMT).
Bitcoin buoyed by US regulatory hopes
Sentiment towards crypto improved this week after Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris pledged to form a definite regulatory framework for crypto, although she did not elaborate on the details.
Harris’ pledge marked a crypto-friendly stance from both major frontrunners for the next U.S. president, with Republican nominee Donald Trump having maintained a largely pro-crypto stance in recent campaigning.
Trump’s World Liberty Financial crypto project went live this week, with reports stating that it raised at least $220 million in token sales.
Trump also appeared to have recovered some ground against Harris, recent polls showed, spurring bets that a Trump presidency will better serve crypto interests.
Still, polls point to a tight presidential race, with about three weeks left to the ballot.
Crypto investment products see weekly inflows
Data from digital asset manager CoinShares showed crypto products saw inflows of $407 million in the week to October 13, with a bulk of them directed towards Bitcoin. This came after assets clocked mild outflows in the prior week.
CoinShares said the inflows were driven by increased speculation over a potential Trump victory in the 2024 elections, which helped crypto markets weather recent shifts in expectations for U.S. interest rates.
Crypto price today: altcoins less cheery than Bitcoin
Broader crypto prices were mixed, with major altcoins mostly lagging Bitcoin. World no.2 crypto Ether rose 0.8% to $2,616.78.
XRP, SOL and ADA fell between 1% and 1.5%, while MATIC fell slightly.
Among meme tokens, DOGE rose 1.4%.